Public Safety Unit getting job done

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Public Safety Unit officers Bob Molloy and Ed Yager canvass the Barren Fork Greenway, which is a place visited frequently by the unit. Over the last year, PSU officers have visited the greenway more than 250 times. (Amy Satterwhite photo)

Whether it’s giving directions, providing funeral escorts or simply being available in times of need, members of the McMinnville’s Public Safety Unit are proving they can do all of the above and more.

According to unit statistics, from January to November of this year, unit volunteers spent more than 2,200 hours working on behalf of the community and responded to requests 1,200 times in a pilot project established in 2003 by the city of McMinnville.

Collectively, PSU officers have worked more than the equivalent of a full time employee would have over the course of an entire year – they donated 56 weeks of full time labor.

“That’s like having another police officer on the force,” PSU Sgt. Norman Elrod said. “That won’t be an exactly right statement in the sense of our responsibilities as opposed to the responsibilities of a police officer, but that leaves police officers free to do something else.”

PSU officers provided funeral escorts 21 times last month alone and provided more than 250 funeral escorts total this year, he added. Other daily activities have involved delivering paperwork, providing foot patrol at the ball parks and the Barren Fork Greenway, helping with stalled vehicles or giving directions, assisting with special events, providing fire and medical assistance, being available for traffic control and doing welfare visits.

According to Elrod, who has kept detailed records of the unit’s activities since its inception, volunteers have worked more than what they originally signed up for and there is plenty of work and square footage to patrol, even with the recent addition of a certified parks patrol officer.

Elrod first began keeping records to satisfy grant sources, which helped to establish the unit in the first place but kept with it in order to help keep the public informed.

His numbers are proving to back up the theory that city police needed much more help with duties that did not involve crimes.

“When we’re not providing escorts or when we’re not needed to help direct traffic, we’re usually trying to provide security for the parks or at the greenway,” Elrod said.

“We don’t go at it as a task to see how fast we can walk it from one end to the other. The idea is to go along and observe what is happening and talk with people who come down to walk.”

Elrod’s fellow volunteers Ed Yager and Bob Molloy said they believe they are giving back to the community or are allowed another chance at helping law enforcement.

“I think most of us enjoy talking and meeting with people and getting out and extending into the community,” Elrod said. “I have a greater awareness of what’s happening in the community and have a greater appreciation for law enforcement agencies. You find out what they’re really going through and what they’re doing and how thin they’re stretched at times,” he added.

The PSU unit was established late in 2003 after a couple of years of talk and after the city received a federal grant to help pay for vehicles and related equipment. The first PSU officers were introduced into the community in late 2003 and a second class was trained this year. The unit currently has eight officers, with two having to step down for personal reasons, Elrod added.